


Career Day

by navaan



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Family, Gen, Gen Fic, Growing Up, Introspection, Krypton, POV Female Character, Personal Growth, Young Kara Zor-El, legacy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-19 17:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7371163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan/pseuds/navaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kara grows up in a technocratic society and then gets thrown into a world that is strange to her. She hadn't ever dreamed of becoming a hero, but she's not complaining.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Career Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [metaphasia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/metaphasia/gifts).



Science was part of her everyday life, like it was for everyone on Krypton. When her father told her what he was working on at the moment she listened attentively, trying to learn from it what she could. “Did the Council listen to you?” she asked after a while and looked up at him with adoring eyes. “You are the chief scientist of that sector, aren't you?”

He patted her head. “I am, Kara, and one day, who knows it might be you speaking to the Science Council to make sure they make the decisions Krypton needs.”

At the time she loved the thought. She loved learning, she loved spending time in the labs of father and uncle Jor-El, both of whom always took the time to show her what they were working on and answer her questions. She liked stars and sometimes when she stayed with Jor-El and Lara, her aunt would show her star maps and talk to her of planets and dying stars, of thriving civilizations far away and ecosystems so different from Krypton that it was hard to imagine. 

“Everything hinges on science,” her mother said one day with a serious face and Kara looked up from her holopad to watch her earnestly. “We are nothing without science, Kara. Our world is built on knowledge and the advancement of our race.”

“Do you miss working in the labs?” 

“Sometimes,” Alura admitted. “But I work with technology just as much now as I used to before. And my work is important. Decisions need to be made. Our society is built on order and laws. We need judges as much as we need scientists working in labs.”

“And those laws are built on science.”

“Yes, Kara. And one day you'll see the beauty of it all.” Her mother's smile was infectious.

Kara couldn't wait to meet her future, to meet the stars her aunt Lara had told her so much about, to build on her parent's legacies. She imagined herself to be the youngest member of the Science Council, the first Kryptonian to harness the energy of a black hole or an explorer meeting new civilizations somewhere beyond the know part of the universe.

* * *

Life on Earth turned out to be _very_ different. Technology was what she missed most. Even to the young Kara, so many things on Earth seemed so much less efficient than at home. _On Krypton,_ she mentally corrected. Because despite all of their advancement and despite all their knowledge and technology, Krypton was no more and Earth was her home now. Not even her father and mother, not even Jor-El and his warnings, had been enough to save it.

It took her years to realize why Kal had chosen the Danvers family for her. Despite not remembering their homeworld, despite not having grown up on Krypton, Kal had learned about Krypton. His parents had sent what information they could store with him to Earth to educate their son, to keep the memory alive and so Clark Kent at least had an idea what it meant to be Kal-El. Meanwhile, Kara Zor-El became Kara Danvers, trying to adapt and learn, and both her foster parents were not just good people, but also scientists. It was something Kara could relate to and that made it easier for the human family to relate to her. 

Her new sister Alex too understood science and after they finally grew together it was something they talked about often.

Surely, her parents would be proud of her, although she couldn't do anything to protect Kal-El, who had grown up without her. At least she was adjusting, living, trying her best to fit in and be happy.

* * *

Her parents always had dreams for her. As a daughter of the house of El, as the daughter of Alura, she'd been meant to take her place in Kryptonian society. Now she was living on Earth and hiding the powers the sun bestowed upon her. She still loveed science.

“Bio-engineering, Alex, I'm so proud of you.” She smiled and Alex threw that look at her, the one with the slight smile, that said, she was beaming like a little beam of sunshine again. Between Alex and her foster mum Eliza this had become a standard description for Kara's smiles.

“You could go into any field you want, Kara. You know that, right?”

“Mum would be thrilled, I know.” She had picked up the container of chocolate chip ice cream from the freezer and sat it in front of Alex, passing her a spoon.

“Yeah,” Alex admitted, “she would be. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about you.”

The first spoonful of ice cream melted on her tongue. She savored it and then grinned. “When I was smaller I wanted nothing more. I wanted to be like my parents. Map the stars. Build better technology. Keep Krypton safe and stable.”

Alex smiled softly, with just a hint of sad understanding. “It's what science is for on Earth too, you know?”

“I know. But I'll be forever tempted to use Kryptonian science to solve problems.” She looked at Alex sideways. “I like just being Kara Danvers. Figure out my own way.”

Alex hugged her, like she'd said something that had made her proud. 

They were growing up, Kara and her big sister. How could she have been so lucky?

“My mother, she used to be known as a just person. Someone to look up to. I'd like to find something that helps to shape the world. But I'm not sure science is my way any longer.”

“Knowledge is power, Kara,” Alex reminded her. “Knowledge is always important.”

And she agreed. But if science could bring knowledge, so could experience.

* * *

She soared to the sky, looking down at National City. Thousands of voices came to her all at once and she smiled. In the early days this had been so overwhelming, so strange, and she'd had no defenses against all the noises, all the slivers of conversations reaching her ear from near and far. Now she could control it.

Kryptonian or human – she was still learning, trying to be the hero this city deserved. She'd messed up and gotten back on her feet, she'd made friends and enemies and there was still so much she didn't know or understand yet.

But there was a little girl in a school to the south side of town just now, who was reading her essay, about why Supergirl was her hero. And a little boy somewhere else across town was saying: “Someday I want to be like Supergirl!”

It made her smile. 

Today was just such a quiet and lovely day. Perhaps she was being self-indulgent. She should go back, drop the cape and go back to being Kara before the next crisis hit. 

Then she heard two kids arguing. “Girls can't be astronauts,” a boy said in a jeering voice.

Alex would be so thrilled, she thought before she just moved over, quick as a flash and without effort, landing on her two feet in a practiced sure manner, standing right behind a little African-American girl in a shiny yellow, frilly dress who was clutching a toy rocket to her chest protectively. Perhaps the girl was five or six years old and she was pouting at three older boys, only one of them obviously her brother. 

“Girls,” Kara said slowly and with a smile, “can be anything they want, guys. Want to challenge me on that?”

The boys looked at her with open mouths. The little girl grinned up at her with wide eyes. “Supergirl!”

She patted her curly hair, made up into two buns, just like her father had patted her head often back on Krypton. “One day it might be you, going to the moon and beyond.” She winked. 

There were no complaints from anyone. One little boy actually got up his courage and asked her for an autograph. She laughed and signed with “Supergirl”.

As a kid she had never dreamed of being a hero. The stories about Nightwing and Flamebird had been exciting and outrageous, but Kara had dreamed to be a scientist, to go to the stars, to be like her parents. She had not been a girl with superpowers then, just a girl like all the others. 

But this was who she was now, and she loved it. She was making a difference and it was good to remember, that it wasn't always the secret work with the D.E.O. and not always the big fights that counted the most. She had chosen to work at CatCo because she knew there were more ways to change the world for the better. Giving people heroes to look up to – not all of them the kind with superpowers – was important, too.

After all she'd had and still had a bunch of heroes in her life she could look up to. Her birth family had given her life and knowledge and a way to be safe, but her new family – Eliza, Alex and all her dear friends - still inspired her every day.

Her Kryptonian parents would have been proud.

She sped away, leaving the kids behind, hearing their excited murmurs, their arguments forgotten because of shared excitement. When she stumbled out of the elevator at CatCo James laughed at her disheveled state. His eyes twinkled and Winn looked up from his desk, throwing a crooked smile her way, too. 

“Bank robbery?” James whispered conspiratorially. 

“Nope. More important stuff.” 

As a kid she'd had so many dreams, but life had turned out much stranger and much more wonderful than anyone could have imagined. She was still Kara Zor-El, and also Kara Danvers and Supergirl. And it seemed like most days that was working out fine.


End file.
